Rotten Mango - #96: Kidnapped By North Korea Part 2 (Case of Choi Eun-hee)

Episode Date: September 10, 2021

You want us to do what? - the couple had been kidnapped and forced to live in North Korea for years before they found out the truth.  The wife was a former beloved movie actress. The husband was an award-winning film director. And now North Korea had kidnapped them to make movies for Kim Jong Il.  It sounds like a fictional story - but it was very much real. And the couple’s lives depended on how good of a movie they could make.  (Please listen to Part 1 before this episode!) Book Rec: “A Kim Jong Il Production” - by Paul Fischer (Even my Korean parents who grew up with this case on the news learned so much from this book! 10/10) Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rambles. Whether you're doing a dance to your favorite artist in the office parking lot, or being guided into Warrior I in the break room before your shift, whether you're running on your Peloton tread at your mom's house while she watches the baby, or counting your breaths on the subway. Peloton is for all of us, wherever we are, whenever we need it. Download the free Peloton app today. 페리턴은 우리의 모든 것을 North Korean, this almost feels like a movie. How is this a true crime? I don't understand. If you listen to part one, I highly recommend it. It covers the history, the torture tactics, the prisons, the class system, the Korean war.

There's a lot to unpack on that one. It's intense. There's a lot of descriptions of what defectors said of their lives in North Korea. I got to hang a portrait of Kim Jong-il on your walls that's ded every day, otherwise prison. They could even execute you if they find dust on that portrait. It's gnarly, but now we're headed into the story of how North Korea, the dear leader, Kim Jong Il,

Kim Jong Il's father, had kidnapped one of South Korea's best film directors and one of their most loved actresses. Why? Well, to create movies for him. Let me drop you into the crime. So meanwhile, Shin is getting worried about Unnie. But not that worried, okay? So he's focusing on trying to get a visa to the United States to make a name for himself

and Hollywood. He starts asking around to his friends before he goes to LA. Hey, have you heard from Unnie? She hasn't come back from Hong Kong. It's been weeks. I don't know what's going on. So strange. He calls the Hong Kong office. Hey, just wondering if Unni stopped by, she was in Hong Kong a couple weeks ago?

I can't talk over the phone. This is the manager of the Hong Kong office. But you need to come here ASAP. We'll talk when you get here. He flies out the next day, what's wrong? Well, she hasn't been in her hotel for more than 10 days. Her stuff is just there. The hotel's kind of creeped out.

No trace of her. I mean, she just vanished. No hospital reports. I checked. Nothing. Well, did she meet anyone strange? Did she tell you about anything strange? No, she just told me she met the film people from Hong Kong.

Oh, and Mrs. Lee. Mrs. Lee! She's freaking out. He never really liked her. Her husband was incredibly pro-North Korea, but he wasn't trapped in North Korea. He lived, he was establishing trade between North Korea and China. He did visit North Korea often, so he was synched with the government over there. Strange. But there's no way, right? I mean, something kept bothering him in the back of his mind. Recently there had been rumors that North Korea was kidnapping people.

If you ever got out, they would make it seem like no, we didn't kidnap you, you defected South Korea. You wanted to come to us, you wanted to join the Communist Party and I are getting cold feet. Six months ago, a very famous pianist and his actress wife almost were kidnapped. So they had received word that a very rich, Hugo Slavian man wanted a private performance from the best pianist in South Korea. They flew all the way to his house and North Korea had paid $30,000 to this rich family to hide in their house so that they could kidnap the pianist and his wife.

But last minute, the couple got cold feet, and instead they went to the US Embassy and said something fills off here. I don't know, something's weird. The console led them to a hotel, right? Now the console also got a room on the same floor and waited for America to give him further instructions. Then the couple gets a knock on the door, and the console says, hold on, stay in your room. Let me go out into the hallway and see what's there. And he steps

back into the room and says, there are three North Koreans waiting outside your room. American authorities show up. They help the couple escape via a hotel service elevator. They take them to the airport. They had just narrowly escaped being kidnapped by North Korea. Sometimes it was for training. I'm assuming with this pianist it probably be for training. Sometimes they would kidnap random Japanese people in Japan and be like okay well now you're a Japanese teacher to the higher ups who need to do business with Japan. So teach him Japanese. Sometimes they would kidnap people from China. Well now you gotta teach them Chinese. They would try to kidnap intellectuals from all different countries so that they could further their industries. But most of the time, they were either released, escaped,

or thrown into prison camps because they didn't wanna help. Sometimes women were just kidnapped because they were cute, and they were gifted to higher ups for good work. It's said that at least 12 countries had citizens kidnapped. Allegedly by North Korea, as far as France, Italy, Jordan. I mean, this is terrifying. So, you said, do you think North Korea is behind this?

What? You're insane! Why would they do something like that? You're so dumb! And so, he reports his wife missing to South Korea and then leaves for Los Angeles I mean sky selfish okay while he's there He's trying to find work of visa news breaks in South Korea that any is now missing and everyone is you guessed it Suspicious of him not North Korea because get out of here. It's like one of those things that's like yeah

I'm sure it happens but like really one of the most famous actresses in South Korea, she got kidnapped by North Korea. What's wrong with you, conspiracy theorist? So when he gets back to Hong Kong, detectives are there waiting to question him. You did something with her, didn't you? You were upset because you had an affair, you lost everything, what did you want from her? Was she trying to sue you for money?

She didn't want to give you a divorce, is that what was going on? She started freaking out. He's like, I don't know what to do. My passport's about to expire. If I go back to South Korea, I'm probably going to be thrown in prison because, like I said, back then, it was just not going well on either sides. His savings was going down, and that's

when the manager of the Hong Kong office said, well, I know someone For $10,000 they can get you a genuine passport from South America and you can travel practically anywhere That's like a third of my savings Okay, well, I guess I have no choice. Let's do it. So they get into the car and they go to this meeting a bunch of guys Pull them out of the car with the knife-twist throats and he's thinking, okay, I'm not getting a passport I'm getting robbed of $10,000. They put a bag over his head, tied rope around his entire body, cut a small hole in the bag so that he could breathe,

carried him to a boat and passed him out on drugs. So now he's all drugged up. And he's thinking the same thing, they're gonna rob me, throw me in the ocean. But when he woke up, he found out it was so much worse. They told him they're taking him to North Korea. Oh my goodness, are you kidding me! So he was taken to a villa, the same one that Annie used to stay out but because of his

arrival she was taken somewhere else. They had all his cosmetics, made him his favorite foods, he wasn't even in the eating mood and they told him, but your favorite dish is cold noodles, is it not? Is it though? Yeah. Wow. Meanwhile, Unnie's depressed, okay? She's anxious, she's miserable.

Every single night she would sneak into her bathroom, turn on the water, sob her eyes out for hours. She couldn't eat, she couldn't sleep. All she did was think about her kids, how she could never see them again, tell them that she loved them. She could never see them again. Tell them that she loved them. She could never do that again. She still hadn't told them that they were adopted. She was waiting for the perfect time.

They would find out through someone else. She had been moved to this cabin in the mountains of North Korea, two hours away from Pyongyang. This house was even more depressing. It felt like a haunted house in the dark. Spent all of her time knitting, taking walks. Her lessons got more and more depressing. It felt like a haunted house in the dark. Spent all of our time knitting, taking walks. Her lessons got more and more intense. She was forced to write letters to the leaders.

They had to be 10 pages long. Perfectly written or you have to restart the entire page. You have to praise. Praise the leaders. If you don't praise them enough, you have to start all over. You think they read the letters? Everyone in the country is forced to write letters, but they only read letters of people that they want to.

And then he was definitely one of those people. Wow. And they think this is so genuine. So genuine. Wow. Even after kidnapping, so genuine. Wow, they really love me. Yeah, like, oh man, I really am her favorite person alive.

She has totally forgiven me for kidnapping. She actually thinks that she wants to be here now. But her teacher was smart and nice. She just had been heavily brainwashed and he would later say that she was a remarkable woman. If she was not born in these conditions, she would have been unstoppable in a free country. She would have been someone great.

I mean, she really was that smart, that poised, just to have this aura about her. But she had been indoctrinated by this crazy country. So she was forced to write letters to her kidnappers thanking them and saying how she saw the light. Our esteemed leader who led the defense of our country against Japan and refused to kneel before the United States. Like she would say stuff like that because she was forced to. Now, shit on the other hand, he wasn't doing well either. He just got there and immediately he's planning his first escape. Okay, here's what I'm gonna do.

I'm gonna steal the guard's car because there's no non-state issued cars in North Korea. Every car is owned by the government. You don't even learn how to drive. You don't even see the inside of a car unless you've been handpicked by the government to be a chauffeur Or to be someone who needs a car. So what do these people do with cars? They leave their key in the ignition because nobody steals cars There's no way to sell it on the black market. Nobody knows how to drive a car So he would sneak into the car and drive off drive to China

That's his plan. His plan was a straight-up movie He would have to steal the car drive it to China until he ran out of gas, secretly hitch a ride on a local mode of train, walk across a frozen lake, and then gets to China with no money in his name. Doesn't even speak Chinese. And somehow get to a US Embassy or a South Korean Embassy or like someone. The plan fails, because there's no street lights. He did not account for that. He couldn't, he doesn't know where to drive to. It's pitch black, he had studied a map, but he drives into a ditch. Because there's no street lights. And I guess when you're accustomed to driving in certain conditions, yeah. So driving on regular roads. So

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That's pretty far north. You were there by mistake, right? No, I meant to go there. Why? Because I can't bear living here anymore. So does that mean you lied in your New Year's congratulatory letters to the great leaders? I wrote what I was told to write. I was writing letters to men I've never met.

I thought they did pretty well. They were shocked. They drove us straight to prison. Yeah, what's what? You think he just so fed up? I think he's also fed up, but I think he's uh, you know, I think I I think like, I would do that. It's a very American way. You're like, you know what? Cops, you. But then he didn't realize that prison was not like a South Korean prison or an American prison.

It was, um, it was something else. He was forced to sit in the torture position for 16 to 17 hours a day, where you sit with your legs crossed on a cold hard floor, you're back completely straight, your hands on your legs and your face looking at the door. If you even move a tiny bit, maybe you itch your hair, maybe you itch your leg where the cockroaches are starting to bite you or you try to swat away a rat from trying to bite you or even flinch, the guards will beat you till you pass out for the day.

You can only move during the day for 10 minutes, but you're so swollen that you can't really even get up. There's not enough room in your cell to fully lay down. The only difference that he got from other prisoners is when he got too sick or starved too much, a doctor would come in and nurse him back to health so that he could do the process all over again. He had done multiple hunger strikes, he had passed out and his new cellmate was intrigued. They sent you doctors. You must be really important. They could care less if any of us die here. They always tell you, I tried a hunger strike once, they tell you, a man dies in 10 days

from hunger, a woman 15. And you know what, eventually everyone starts begging for food. But you, they wanted a doctor on the fifth day. Even the minister of people security came all the way here because you, this random prisoner, decided to starve to death. You know I've never seen him before. Nobody's ever really seen him. Do you know something? Do you know someone? Who are you? You just ignore them. Then the guards would come and ask him questions. Can you buy chocolate in the South? Yeah, I guess if you have money you can go buy it if you want it.

Yeah, but only the high ranking officials have authority to buy chocolate, right? No, literally anyone. Yeah, sure. Hey, the wind blows off the roofs of the huts in South Korea, right? The huts, like in villages, most... In total, we all live in like apartments or houses. Okay, sure. Ugh, I can smell the capitalism on you. The guards could smell the soap that he had used while he was in the villa.

They don't use soap like they don't have these goods. He's given vitamins by the doctors and the guards said, I heard if you eat those you never get hungry. What? No, it's just a vitamin you still have to eat. What? No, that's not what I heard. Yeah, you're supposed to take these like every day, people take a lot of vitamins in the South. Yeah, just the officials, though. No, they're sold in pharmacies for pretty cheap, for literally anyone. Anyone can buy them? Yeah, anyone can buy them.

Just guys a liar. Within a few weeks, he was interviewed by the same people. And he kept saying, I've given a lot of thought to what I did. I realized how wrong I was. It was a foolish mistake. I would sacrifice for the greater good. Give me a chance.

I love communism, please. Please tell our great leader, Kim Jong-il, that I love him. And every time he had to lie, it was easier and easier because he was miserable. And eventually, he was released. The guards who took care of him, the higher officials, they looked skinny. They looked malnourished.

They looked like they had been tortured alongside him. And they looked in his face and they said, don't ever do that again. You don't even understand how much pain you've caused everyone. Why is that? Because he escaped under their watch. Oh wow. Then he did it again. He tried to escape from his villa again.

And they looked at him and they said, why did you try to escape and car so much paint all over again? And he said, why don't I have my wife or my kids? How can I live here without my family? You idiot, you never requested them to be bought. You could have just asked. You didn't have to do all of this. We could have just brought them to North Korea.

What the fork? He was sent to a much harsher prison for the next two and a half years. In the torture position going over every movie he's ever watched in May or wanted to make so that he wouldn't lose his mind. Eventually, Kim opened up communication and he had to write letters to Kim,

apologizing, begging. Then started writing about movies about North Korean films that he would love to direct. Because he knew there was a reason Kim was keeping him alive, the only thing he did with his life was direct movies. Not because he had privileged information, then there was a cell plant. Your unease husband, aren't you?

I had that choose here, too. How do you know her? I heard her name on the radio. You singing that's weird. How do you recognize her seeing her from hearing her name on the radio? Neem's alarm from the get-go and his instincts were right because the cell pan kept complaining about North Korea.

Ugh. The great leader doesn't even know what he's doing. I hate communism. What do you think, Shin? And Shin would say, no, the great leader is doing everything perfectly. This is the right way. It should be the only way, honestly. We should take over South Korea and make this whole peninsula communism and the great

leader should be the leader of the whole world. The more he praises the leader in front of the cell plant, the more that he got food. Soon he got so much food that he couldn't finish it all during meal times. Which is crazy because he had been starving up until this point. Eventually, they let him out. And this was the great little direction of Kim Jong Il. Eun-hee was back in Pyongyang, going back to parties. She was really good at gaining Kim's trust.

They had this strange pseudo-mother-son relationship. They would joke around. He really seemed to like her, wanted to win her affection and her attention. He started mentioning again, after years, that director Shin was coming. She was conflicted, because she didn't want director Shin to suffer, but at the same time, for her sake,

because she wants to die. Maybe it'd be easier for her, but then what about the kids? Who would take care of the kids if they're both gone? Finally it happened at a party at the fish house. Everyone kept telling her that day that there was a beautiful surprise. It would be the happiest day of her life. And everyone says, look over there! So she looks and she sees, I don't know this person, she's like, okay, who am I looking at? Is this just another North Korean? And then she looks a little bit closer. It's director Shin. But he looks different. His, he's thin. His face has no meat, and she's just so confused. What's wrong with him?

What are all those scars all over his body? This is not the director Shin that I knew. It's been five years since they had seen each other, but he looked like he had aged two decades. So she's just staring. And that's when Kim looks at them and says, what are you doing? Why are you just standing there? We'll go on, hug each other. And the whole place explodes into cheers and they have this first awkward hug, then a real one, everyone's taking their pictures. And if they didn't break up, this would have been their 29th wedding anniversary to the date.

Was this all planned? Probably. And yeah, knowing him, it's probably planned. And at that moment Kim looks at the crowd and says from now on, director Shin is my new film advisor. And the whole place is just cheering. The couple is sent home to the same luxury villa that both stayed in in the beginning, where they were to share a room and wait for further instructions,

but they were always watched by guards. The only place that they could talk was in the bathroom with all the water running as high as possible. They could just whisper, because they had no idea if this place was bugs. It probably was. Shin was the most concerned. He was the only one that spent time in prison. The knee never went to prison. But he kept saying,

Ani, you look... You seem different. You seem to... know a lot of people and... fit in and... Comster, are you brainwashed? And she starts laughing. Why?

The movie director can't even recognize acting when he sees it. And he said that he underestimated her. She was a great actress in the South on screen and then the North off screen. From now on, both of them had to put on the movie of their lives in order to escape. That was the only way. The one story that lingered over both Shin and Ine was one that was planted, taught probably by one of the staff taking care of them. Their once was a beautiful woman in North Korea.

She was the ideal in the country, the ideal beauty standard. She would lead in all the movies made in North Korea. She won awards. She won the highest honor in North Korea called the People's Actress. Even was allowed to go to check us LaVacchiya to study western acting. She was sent a broader UKiting. married a Korean director they had three kids together but she was always falling in love with people. So she had had it affair with someone on the film crew and the rumors started going crazy

and crazy this woman is sleeping with this person after being married and one day a higher up confront her with the rumor. She yelled at that. Not the Kims but a regular higher up official. You guys tried to seduce me too. Every single one of you. You did this too. Since that day, everything fell apart.

She was downgraded, demoted, taken off-screen, forced to work in the furnace room of the studio, then out of nowhere. After a couple years, she was back in the lead roles. Nobody had an answer why. You never get really. It's not like you just have punishment for a couple years. It's because King Jung Il started having an affair with her too.

Just like he did with his first mother of his child, who's locked away. And at the same time, she's being courted by the son of a wealthy Japanese businessman. So this wealthy Japanese family had generously supported the Kim dynasty for years now. And his son was living in Japan, and of course because they're that rich he's just becoming spoiled So the business man said I'm sending you to North Korea so you can learn values of hard work and work ethic So he gets sent to North Korea. He's working under the Kim dynasty, but like quote unquote work, you know They're not really treating him like an employee and he spends most of his time trying to start an affair with the lead actress Who he had no idea that Kim Jong-il

was also seeing. So one day they sneak off in his car to do it, and after doing it they fall asleep, with all the windows and everything tightly closed. When she wakes up she realizes that the young man had died of carbon monoxide poisoning. And the actress was barely alive when the army came to catch them. She was hospitalized for two weeks, and then taken into the city, the day that she was discharged, where people were practicing for their big mass games, a whole crowd of people. And the lead actress that they had seen on screen was pulled out of a Jeep and shot three times. Her body was thrown into a bag, thrown into

a Jeep, and taken into the mountains for wild animals to eat her. All the movies she was in, they edited her out, and the couple knew what they had to do. They could not get caught trying to betray him. This was his lead actress. This was his lover. This was his mistress. They were technically nobody. I mean, sure, he treated them, quote-unquote, well compared to other people, but they had to gain his trust. They had to please him. They had to please him by making movies. So they watched as many North Korean movies as possible. They needed to make the movies better, but still make him happy, not insult him. And honestly, they both enjoyed the work. Not the propaganda, but this was some normalness to their lives again. They had always been making movies together. This is when they do something crazy though. They were able to go into a gift shop for 이 ever had the chance to go to North Korea. You know a lot of film or take pictures of anything

guards are watching you nonstop, but they saw these tape recorders. They bought it. They needed to record Kim because they're risking their lives. They needed proof that they did not betray the South for Kim because this was so fresh in the war. If you came out in 2021 and said, hey, I was kidnapped by the North,

like I'm a South Korean citizen, no one would question you. But in this situation, because it was just fresh, people would think you joined the Communist Party, you were a traitor to democracy, you were a traitor to South Korea. So they needed proof that they did not run away, that they were kidnapped.

So their first dinner, just the three of them, they put the recording in Ines purse and asked him straight up, why did you kidnap us? And he said, well, you're the best director in South Korea, and you were born in North Korea before it was North Korea. This is perfect, really. You're in the director and it's a propaganda bonus because you're like a true North Korean

because you're born here. And you were having problems at work. We needed to tempt you to get here, so that's why we can't have to any. Then he went on to complain about how North Korean films sucks because of socialism. Everyone in this country is given everything. So they have no incentive to get better. The actors suck. The film crews suck.

Everyone sucks. We want you to train everyone here. And you have unlimited funds to make movies. The first year I will give you a budget of $2 million. It has been on whatever you want. And if it does well, if I like the movies, I can give you more and more every single year. There's really no limit on how much I can give you. Not just for North Korea though, I want you guys to win international awards for these movies.

I don't want to be looked down by other countries. I want the best of the best. You can have as many employees as you want. The whole nation is at your disposal. You can pick any actress, any actor, any film crew, whatever you need. I can get the best gear imported from overseas. They came up with their first movie idea. Kim even sent them to Berlin to study their movie locations to shoot outside of North Korea, but they were escorted non-stop by guards. Their passports were confiscated, the minute that they landed, and all the countries that they were visiting were communist countries.

At one point, though, they did pass by an American embassy numerous times, but there was no way to make the escape. So imagine the pain. You're just walking by this guarded embassy with American flags. You're so close to freedom. Yet so freaking far from freedom. They don't even speak that well of English. So they're only allowed to these joined hotel rooms with doors in the middle, the connecting rooms, the guards would sporadically check up on them, just open door. Hey, that's when we have this great idea to call a Japanese friend, a director of theirs, to get their advice. They went out close to them, but they trusted him enough and he wasn't South Korean.

There was no way that the guards would let them have any contact with any South Korean. If you guys have been keeping up with my YouTube channel then you know that my sister likes to come over and knock out specifically on our bed. She will knock out literally for the whole day. Yeah you could say it's because she's a new mom or you could say it's my mattress. She's been obsessed with our bed. She says, I don't know what it is about your bed, but once I lay down, I'm gone for like five, six hours. You just fall asleep, it melts you in. It's so comfortable, and I told her,

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rotten. That's helixleap.com slash rotten from to $200 off and two free pillows. So they told the guards, hey we got to approve by Kim Jong-il, we're meeting this Japanese director just to get advice on this one scene. We're going to meet in our hotel room and not leaving the place, okay? Fine. So the Japanese director comes into their hotel room and they rush him into a corner and tell them we're being kidnapped. If we don't reach out in the next six months, take this to our family. It's a secret, please. And he passes them the recording that they had taken of Kim Jong Il. This is an absolute secret. You didn't hear from

us, but you have to release this if we're not in contact within the next six months. Why wait six months? Because if it was released immediately, then they're in danger. It's like, you know, when there's kidnapping situations, you don't want to piss off the kidnapper. Now, the escape itself was not going to be easy. The bodyguards were an elite team. They were not just regular, smuggler citizens.

Kim picked them himself. He liked them to be orphans. He would wipe their identification from the system. It's almost like they didn't exist. They were never allowed to go back home or anywhere once they were chosen. If they grew up and they wanted to marry someone, they could only marry someone that was working as a secretary of Kim's choosing. So you would tell the higher ups, hey I'd like to get married. They would sit you down, put a bunch of pictures face down in front of you. You randomly choose one, they flip it over. Do you want to marry her? If you say no, you don't get to choose again. So then let's say two years later, because you have to wait two years, you want to get married again.

Now, you're either confronted with, you have to marry this person, or you never get married, or if Kim's having a bad day, we might even kill you for not getting married. So typically, they get married. Then they move into a state-funded house where the wife lives, but the guard can only visit her once a week, he doesn't live there. The guards are taught from young ages that their entire life is to guard the kins. Kim even made them watch a movie called Line of Fire, it's an American movie, about a secret service agent who is tortured, emotionally haunted, by the fact that he failed to save

President Kennedy. And he said, this is the life you should live. Sacrifice your lives blindly for me. Now Shinde is really wanted to escape, but he couldn't not acknowledge the fact that he was also making films again. So it's really complex for the couple. They were behind the camera again, something that they had been waiting so long to do in the kidnapper was the one that gave it back to them. It was complex.

On top of that, Unnie fell back in love with Shen. They started their romance again and the book beautifully states and I quote, in an environment where separately they had nothing, each found that the other person became their everything. And I saw it must be like, don't they say when you're throwing to this type of traumatic environment, you just grow strong attachments. Yeah, who like who else could really understand you ever again, except this one person. And it's not like they were random strangers. They had already had this connection. And this was just I mean, they really fell in love. And every time that they would go to a foreign country and come back to North Korea without

attempting an escape, they were awarded gold Rolexes, gold omega watches, new Mercedes Benzes. I mean, they were just showered and gifts. And working in Eastern Europe also helped the media. Eventually, everyone believed that this couple left South Korea to work on films in Eastern Europe. Because Kim said once these films, they debut, there's going to be questions. From why did this family move to North Korea, you got to tell them that you did it on your

own free will. Kim really wanted to improve North Korea's image in the international scene. He didn't want to come out with a book or just do an interview, the best way is through cultural impacts such as movies. And they also had nothing to export at this point. They really had no trade going out. They didn't have resources, they didn't have agriculture. Maybe movies is their export.

He also started allowing them to write limited communication to their families. All letters were vetted by the North Koreans. They were supposed to pretend like they wanted to be there to create films. That this was an opportunity, a freedom without censorship. Because South Korea had censorship. So they debuted their first movie to Kim.

And it was imperative that he liked it. And he did. He liked it so much that at the end, he stood up, clapping his hands. It's like a European movie. Well, do you know the plot line? It was like all about a chemistry song. When this movie comes out, there's going to be a lot of jealous people. That's what he said.

Now that time, news broke. Breaking news. The couple missing from Hong Kong were kidnapped by North Korea, showing pictures of them with Kim. They cassette tape with their voice recording letters to their family. Now Kim knew that they had secretly recorded him. They were done for it. They were going to die.

That's it. All their hard work. Gone. Then the news got worse. It's reported that under North Korean coercion, Shin and Choi are making a movie to be presented to Kim Yee-sung as a birthday gift. The film slanders the Republic of Korea and top officials in South Korea. This was International News, a bizarre kidnapping from North Korea of a famous film director.

They were gonna die. They didn't foresee that coming, huh? No. It hadn't been six months yet. Oh. That friend just got either excited or nervous, I don't know. By that time, it was time to face the music. But when the couple finally talked to Kim Jong-un, he was pissed.

I think I know who did it. I think I know who leaked the communications. The guy that I have followed me around, even to all the parties documenting every single conversation that I have, he probably leaked it to the press. It did not cross his mind that the couple might have secretly recorded him, or maybe his brain wanted to ignore the truth. So he told them, you guys better pretend to be working in Eastern Europe and not Pyongyang. Go to Budapest immediately and hold a press conference to explain that you weren't kidnapped,

you voluntarily came to North Korea, and Eastern Europe to work there. You wanted to come to North Korea because you wanted freedom and resources as a film director I can do that So now it was time for Shin the film director to become the actor and his life depended on it So the press conference he says Kim Jong-il offered to sponsor us without political oppression to make movies for the purpose of National reunification But then why have you guys been silent for so long? Because of intimidation from South Korea, we had to hide in West Germany. Afterwards, Shin called Kim and he seemed content. But I think we should take it a step further, Kim said. We should probably

get you a more prominent office in Eastern Europe so that it seems more official like you really have freedom And that's when Shin took the advantage Well since the whole world is watching us right now. It's a very critical point Instead of booted past Why not a more neutral place like Vienna in Austria? Hmm, you know, that's a good idea Okay, yeah, you should get an office in Vienna. So they start planning their great escape.

Vienna is probably one of the best places to escape. Why? Because there's a US Embassy, there's a lot of political refugees going there. It's easier to get asylum for the time being. Technically they're not an American citizen, you know. Their citizenship is all confusing. They don't have their Korean passports. Are they North Korean citizens?

Is South Korea even gonna want to take them back? They know for a fact America will take them. They don't know if South Korea will take them. South Korea might just throw them in a prison. So they need to get in touch with America. They try to figure out their hierarchy with the guards. Cause they wanted to see where they stand. So this was all prepped for their escape.

For example, a former right-hand man was making fun of Shin. And he told Shin, come on, just do as I tell you, I can make better films than you. And Shin slammed his fist on the table and said, fine, from this moment on, I give up responsibility for this film and I'll report what happened to the dear leader. And everyone sat down and that man apologized to Shin. So they're trying to test out exactly where they stand and where they stand with the great leader.

So their first movie was such a hit in North Korea that they submitted it to the Film Festival in Czechoslovakia, where Czechoslovakia awarded a knee with the best director award. This would be the highest award ever received by North Korea and any was sobbing with joy. She said she had been isolated, trapped, and kidnapped, and for a brief moment she felt like she was actually seen by someone. She was actually acknowledged by the world even a little bit that she was still there. She was still alive. Then the unthinkable happened. Kim was so happy from this award that he said,

we'll scout out more festivals, more film festivals, go to the United Kingdom. This would be their best chance to escape. But instead, they had double the guards. They were guarded around the clock, and they had to leave. Then another ray of hope came. Kim called them and said, you know, visiting these socialist countries is easy. But capitalist in neutral countries is where we have to think of going next.

If you only visit socialist countries, it's going to look like your travel is being controlled by me. And I don't want that. We want to give up the impression that, you know, you're doing this on your own free will. There's obviously South Korean security presence, you know, in these different countries, but we'll be fine if we move you around in a group. If you go anywhere you want,

and if South Korea sees that, it'll hurt them. To see you enjoying true freedom as a film director, they were getting closer and closer to escape, but the couple was so conflicted. They needed to go home, they needed to be free with their children, but everyone around them would probably be punished if not given the death penalty just because they escaped. Like all the guards.

And they had not the guards, but even the teachers. And they had grown to love a lot of these people they spent time with. These were beautiful souls trapped in a country that didn't appreciate them. If they had been born anywhere else, their lives would have been drastically different and they would have had such beautiful, fulfilling lives and they would have impacted the world in positive ways. Even Kim, they had a strange relationship with. He was nothing like the madman the news depicted him as being.

He kept his promises. He was a rather funny guy. Clearly, very clearly he was a sociopath. I mean, no question about it, they said, like for sure, a full-on, raging sociopath. But sometimes he could be charismatic. Lenny said it was almost amazing the way he ran things. He paid attention to everything.

Remembered every little detail. Don't underestimate him. He kept people on their toes. They said everything that he did, even though he was so smart, there was some child likeness to him. They felt bad for him almost. Like, you know when you see, like you hate those spoiled kids that you see online,

but you're like, did something happen to you? Like, something's obviously wrong with you. You're doing this probably because you're insecure. You know, maybe you weren't loved as a kid. kid. You can't help but feel a little bit like, man, if you're putting this on the internet, you probably are miserable. And technically, he didn't treat them the absolute worst. He gave them back their love, their filmmaking, so they were confused. They needed one time they had a scene where they had to blow up a train. And Shin was giggling and was like, well, if you can't get a prop, just give us a real one. And had a scene where they had to blow up a train and Shin was giggling and was like, well if you can't get a prop just give us a real one.

And to a surprise Kim gave him a real one filled up with explosives ready to go. So they had a real train explosion. This was the best scene in North Korean cinematic history. They only had one take to do it right. One of their action movies got in the best actress award at the Moscow Film Festival. The highest honor that North Korea had received. And the couple felt like the movies that they made here actually made a difference. In South Korea, yeah, these people, they go, they enjoy it for two hours,

maybe they talk about it over dinner. But in North Korea, they really hope that it brought joy to the dark lives around them. Maybe it really had a stronger impact here. And Kim became so obsessed that he was lenient on his rules. Like the main rule that every movie had to be propaganda. They started having action films, films about love, erotic sexual films with full boobs out, brutal rap scenes, like more importantly,

they had footage of the outside world. And according to the book, a defector said, we watched our films and documentaries and accepted them the way they were. We thought that's how movies are, but after the Shin era, we had new eyes. Footage of Tokyo and Paris, it's not the world that we thought.

People were wearing the newest fashion. Everyone had unique hairstyles. There were cars, bars, restaurants. Wow, that's huge. It like really started something. That also started the black market of smuggling in films. And that's when the North Korean people really started seeing, okay, this is nothing like we were taught. But the couple there in their 60s now, their health was declining.

Their kids, they had no idea where they were. So they had to go. They had to make a bunch of films, but they needed one to debut to Westerners so that they could travel to Western countries, majority of them neutral or, you know, so Pogasari was their version of Godzilla. It was set in the Korean medieval times, the farmers are starving, war was raging, this blacksmith out of boredom, he carved out a small dragon-like figure, and and his daughter his young daughter was sowing and she pricked her finger in a tiny speck of blood lands on that figure and it comes to life because it's made by a blacksmith it only eats metal it eats all the iron he can find starts growing from this cute little pet to this giant scary monster with these devil

horns and the monster helps the farmers that are starving by going up against the evil corrupt governor and its action packed and finally the governor is uh... he tries to kill the monster but the little girl cuts her arm and puts blood on the monster and it heals and it kills the soldiers, smashes up the corrupt governor's mansion and the farmers are now free and they want to feed this monster their hero but they have no tools anymore because he ate it all. They don't even have pots and pans because the monster ate it all. They're about to go impoverished.

They're about to lose the whole economy, so the little girl sacrifices herself. It gets a giant metal bell and puts herself underneath it, lures him, the dragon to eat the bell, but he can't digest her so he explodes into a thousand little pieces and a light comes down from the heavens and destroys him and the little girl is found huddling in that shed crying a singlet here Kim Jong-il loved it he said the film shows the greed private wealth and oppression of the governor everything we're against in communism I know it's really ironic and really hypocritical and of course the governor, everything were against and communism. I know it's really ironic and really hypocritical.

And of course the beast is the party and the Kim family who freed a nation from oppression. Everyone else saw it that the Kims were the monster. The honest people were starving to benefit a monster. The monster was never satisfied. Always needed more. You can only kill the monster by spilling blood. There will be bloodshed. That's how the people saw it. That's how everybody else saw it. When they later asked Shin, what did you mean by that? He said, um, there's a pure monster film. So obviously, you know, we can kind of assume what he meant by that. It really didn't matter because Kim loved it.

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extended trial when you use my promo code. Just go to canva.me slash rotten to get your free 45 day extended trial. That's c-a-n-v-a-dot-m-e slash rotten. Canva.me slash rotten. Then you wanted the couple to rush it to Vienna to debut it to the Western world. Think about all the stuff they would make. They'd make merchandise. Stuffed animals from this movie. What a capitalist way to think! Are you kidding?

And so Shins said he trusted us 100%. He thought at this point with the house the money the studio, there was no reason for us to want to escape. And that is the weak point in growing up in a socialist country. It is easy to fool oneself. In their eighth year of captivity it was time for the final ensuing before the credits. The Great Escape. And in Vienna they ran into luck. North Koreans did not book rooms. So when they went to the intercontinental hotel, there were no connecting rooms available. And they decided that they were going to meet with the Japanese journalist without the guards.

They told the guards, listen, this is a real journalist we're working with, they're not stupid. If we've got all these guards near us, they're going to say, you were kidnapped by the North Koreans and you're forced to say all of this. So why don't you guys just wait outside the hotel while we grab lunch inside the hotel? It's going gonna be fine. So they call the journalist and tell him, meet us at the hotel with a taxi waiting outside. Don't let the taxi leave.

The guards are outside. Now the couple goes out to greet the journalist, hi, welcome, we haven't seen you in so long and all of a sudden Shin opens the taxi door, shoves them inside and gets in, go, go, go, go! Just drive around the city and Shin starts rambling. We've been kidnapped. You have to help us. We're trying to escape. Get us to the US Embassy. Please, please, please.

So then Unni turns around and she says, oh my god, that's small white taxi following us. The North Koreans are inside. So they get radioed, the taxi driver. And it's the other taxi driver saying, hey, the other half of the party, they want to know what direction your headed we lost you the journalist quick on his feet grabs all the cash he has in his pocket throws it at the taxi driver tell him we want the opposite way and he lies and they make it to the US Embassy which was five minutes away they rush inside leaving the journalists in the taxi and they're rushed into a room.

They're trying to explain everything in broken English. CIA agents rush in and they start moving the couple from safe house to safe house. Une slept for four days straight after being rescued. She's, well, rescuing herself really. She was finally getting submerged. The CIA found out that Kim had put a bounty of $500 million on them. What?

Yeah. Have a billion dollar? Yeah. I mean, I guess when you have a whole country. And finally, they were transported to the US, to the headquarters of the CIA. Then, in Virginia, they were placed in witness protection for three years. Because the CIA needed them. They wanted to learn everything about Kim. His behavior, his likes, his dislikes, his habits, what he likes to talk about, who he really talks to. Did he ever talk about any future goals and dreams and aspirations?

The kids were allowed to come and live with them in Virginia. Their adopted daughter had been married. Their adopted son came to live with them. Shins' other kids with the mistress came to live with them too because the mistress of this point she had been struggling with life and should have been struggling with this drug addiction and then he somehow made this family work. Like imagine how awkward it is. The couple wrote a memoir, but mainly Shyn wanted to go work. He was frustrated. He wanted to go to LA, he just wished that he wasn't so sick, he wasn't so old, he spoke better English, he had more time, he tried making a few films, but those all tanked.

LA just wasn't the place for him. So they decided to take the brisk and head back to South Korea. This could end up bad. Because if you were in the North after the war and you return, your ass is grass, you're going to prison, you're a traitor. No questions asked. The minute that they land, Korean CIA picked them up, and they were questioned about everything. Are you a spy now? Did he pay you? Finally, they did a press conference because they were forced to, and said,

Listen, we were kidnapped, and people found it so hard to believe. But look at you guys. You guys look sophisticated and rich, you guys look like you had a better life than all of us. You look like you benefited from your life. And did you hear they wrote a book? That's just really money, hungry, isn't it? They're just sorry that they got caught. They chickened out of being North Korean and now they want to profit off of us South Koreans

with their stupid little book, their little movies. They just want publicity. So people turn their backs on the couple and they retreated into this small rundown house. Shin tried to direct another movie but it was a flop. He was too old and he passed away in April 11th of 2006. When he was in the hospital, Euni couldn't even afford a car. So she would take these long bus rides that were so exhausting. And the last things he said to her were, hold my hand so I can see how strong you are. And he said, you can go now, Madame Choi. She said see you tomorrow morning, but he ended up dying that night. Five years later, Kim Jong-il died. And in

who the author met, Paul Fisher met her, told him in the beginning she was upset and hated Kim. But now she just feels sorry for him. He was just a poor soul. And she passed away April of 2018. And that is the story of the kidnapping of one of the biggest South Korean film directors and actresses by North Korea. Okay, there has been so much that happened in Korea that even my parents had lived through. Obviously not torturous. But this was like on the news when my mom, she said she was like in middle school and she was hearing all about it. And I'm like, why do I not know anything about stuff like this? Yeah, exactly. This is insane.

What a life. What a life. And my dad and my mom were just like, yeah, it was just crazy back then. Like, it wasn't even, it was breaking news. But it was that crazy back then that it's just not something you think about for the rest of your life.

You're like, do you remember that? Yeah, exactly. This is crazy. So they started reading articles for me to help with this podcast. And that? Yeah, exactly. This is crazy. So they started reading articles for me to help with this podcast. And they're like, wow, there was actually a lot that we didn't know, because they were still so young. It's crazy. I don't even know what to say. This feels like a movie. Oh yeah, I feel like I just learned what? So definitely go check out the book because I think it's also fascinating in the aspect that this book was written by a film director, Paul Fisher is a film director.

And this was his first book and the fact that it was his first book, I'm kind of shook, his writing is beyond. This is probably, I say this all the time, but this is probably one of my favorite books of the year. Just really absorbs you and sucks you in and the amount of research and the amount of just meticulous detail that went into his planning, it's out of this world. Like I said, even my Korean parents who grew up in that generation, they learned stuff from this book. I mean, I'd love to know your thoughts. Leave your comments. There's no comments,

Stephanie, get it together. This was probably one of the most mind-boggling cases. How did I not know that this happened? Did you guys know? But I hope you guys enjoyed this week's mini-sode, even though it was on a Friday. And I will see you guys on Wednesday for the main episode. Bye.